This is the actor from The Man Who Came To Dinner, if you need a face to picture. Beard and all.You may not get every reference, but the show builds a fantasy world. It is New York in the first half of the century. Montague is a Shakespearian hack actor who hasn't worked in years. Somehow he offered a radio show which becomes a hit, and he spends the rest of the series in dread lest his club members find out. He is offered a movie role, which affords the writers a chance to skewer Hollywood. Agnes the maid sparkles. The sound quality of these shows is outstanding.

This is a great situation radio comedy show featuring Monty Woolley and a very good supporting cast. The plots are varied, but focus on the main character, his wife, and the housekeeper with various supporting players including Art Carney.

Good cyncical, pompous humour. The 'snippets' of the Uncle Goodheart show are very amusing.

Haven't listened to everything yet, but particularly enjoyed the Movie Offer episode where Hollywood wished to redo Macbeth into an underwater all singing and dancing musical.

I listened to a few episodes of
Scattergood Baines (courtesy of
archive.org) and I'm pretty sure
that this show was the model that
Montague is parodying.

Same length of show, same sonorous baritone,
similar contrived situations for Scattergood
to apply his folksy, indirect wisdom,
and extract some poor saphead from a
dilemma of her own making.
I actually liked the few episodes I heard.

How often the parody survives while the
original is flushed down the tubes of time!
Who remembers Marie Coreli, but we all know
Mme. Bovary? Anyone recall any early Spanish
chivalric romances, besides Don Quixote?
The Clouds, Aristophanes' wicked send-up of
that flash-in-the-pan, Socrates.

The previous reviewer put a link for a transcription of a "Montague" episode. Here's another one: http://bozolisand.com/montaguebooboofoofoo.doc

This is one of the greatest radio comedy shows EVER.

In fact, if Kelsey Grammer is looking for a new role to play I think he's tailor-made for a revival of this role. Keep the old scripts, update them to the 21st century -- pompous down & out Shakespearean actor forced to do cable TV family show to make ends meet -- with punched-up dialogue from Carrie Fisher and Bruce Vilanch. Give him a likable leading lady of a certain age, such as Marsha Mason or Dianne Wiest, and a smart ass to play Agnes (Cloris Leachman comes to mind if she were 30 years younger) and I'll watch it.
What I like about this show especially is the tart writing and its jabs against Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment business. That's probably why it only lasted one season, much the same reason the classic film Singin' In The Rain wasn't boffo box office when it originally came out, also in the early 50's. Too many insider jokes, not enough starry-eyed, anti-commie rhetoric. Check out the episode Lost In Hollywood for example. Here is a copy of the script of it that was performed by a recent Chicago theater troupe:
bozolisand.com/montaguelostinhollywood.doc

The pious though middle-class Unemployed Shakespearean over-actor succumbs to making a (quite handsome) wage as a (shudder) radio act-or, Uncle Goodheart. Apparently none of his peers have sunk to the depths of actually listening to (gasp/shudder) radio so they don't know that Montigue isn't starving along with them. These day to day adventures of Montigue & family (wife Lily and their housekeeper, Agnes) keeping his secret employment a secret are secondary to the beloved antigonsim between the much overly-stuffed shirt and the nimble-witted Agnes. Montigue provides the plot but Agnes make the show. Beloved Brooklyn-born Agnes vs the antique ligitimate stage self-appointed impressiario... a match made in heaven - wrestling match that is. No insult beneath them - no barb to fast - no reparte' too swift...
Safe for even the youngest to hear but oh so funny. If you think the Bickersons shared comebacks; wait'll ya get a load of these two.
Fun from opening curtain to closing bell.
Noah 8-?